The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

The student news site of Los Altos High School in Los Altos, California

The Talon

Girls Basketball Aims High with New Coach

With the winter season training already underway, the girls basketball team has been looking to assimilate a new member of the team: not a player, but new head coach Jaclyn Brode. Brode enters the team following last year’s impressive run, which, at its pinnacle, culminated in the league title, but was cut short as it fell in the first round of CCS.
Brode brings to the court a wealth of coaching experience.
“[Coach Jaclyn Brode brings] a new kind of intensity,” sophomore Meg Enthoven said. “After seeing how well our season ended last year our new coach expects greatness from our team, she’s helping us take Los Altos basketball to the next level.”
Brode has already begun to strategize, and predicts that both the underclassmen and upperclassmen will play crucial roles in the season. Many core players are returning and want vengeance this year. The team is also welcoming a sophomore transfer student from St.  Francis.
“I like the speed and quickness of our team this year,” Brode said. “It’ll be paced by Kelly Hamamoto and  Katie Munro, but they’ll definitely get big contributions from Rebecca Andrews and Allegra Maeso. Meghan McDermott is probably our truest center but she’s skilled enough that we can utilize her in different ways…Her partner in crime will be Meg.”
Brode and the team’s St. Francis transfer aren’t the only new members to the team. With a new coach came with it a new training regimen, one which began in the summer, months usually reserved for athletes training for the fall season. In the off-season, Brode has been pushing the team to ensure that it will thrive in the stiff competition that the De Anza League is home to. She hired a trainer over the summer, who designed “brutal” workouts for the players. Brode is a strong believer in the notion that conditioning is important, and thus far, after months of training, the team looks to fit the part.
“The best teams are in the best shape,” Brode said. “I attended clinics throughout the summer on basketball strength and conditioning and have brought what I learned to this program.”
The players have felt the effects.
“We conditioned a lot during the summer and preseason as a team to make sure that we are all in great shape for the season,” Meghan said. “It will be very helpful once the season kicks into gear to be in great shape, so then we can focus on development of skills and strategies.”
Brode’s ultimate goal is to build on last season’s performance and to develop a team that can “out-hustle and outwork all opponents”.
“I want this team to be the team everyone hates playing against because of how hard we play,” Brode said. “There will be games we win and games we lose, but regardless of the score I want our opponents to feel like they just went 12 rounds with the heavyweight champ. All out, no fear, all hustle for the 32 minutes we’re on the court. I think if we can all buy into the big picture, this can be a special team.”

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